Leader of West Germany's Jewish...

FUNDS EMBEZZLED. A

December 15, 1989

WEST BERLIN — FUNDS EMBEZZLED. A leader of West Germany's Jewish community who died last year embezzled nearly $16 million in government funds intended for Holocaust survivors, according to a report released Thursday. The report, prepared by federal and Jewish officials, added that attempts to get the money back have been unsuccessful. After the January 1988 death of Werner Nachmann, the 62-year-old chairman of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, investigators found he had run a massive embezzlement scheme involving reparations paid by the West German government. It is the largest scandal to hit West Germany's Jewish community and led to calls for greater supervision of governmental funds intended as reparations for Jewish survivors of the Nazi terror.